Life Coaches Blog

I have a secret to confess: I’m a Trekkie at heart.

I’ve been in love with Star Trek ever since I first watched it as a little boy. 3 things captivated my young heart about the crew of the USS Enterprise;

1) Inspiration. The character Hikaru Sulu. He was the very first Asian hero I ever saw on an American show, and during the 80s there weren’t a lot of Asian role models you got on American TV, and to my young mind being on television was the epitome of achievement. Seeing him onscreen gave me the feeling that if he could do that, so could I.

2) Hope. Here was a show about a better future for all humanity, one where the sexes and races were equal (I watched this during the Cold War era, which was why having a Russian character onboard was so cool) and Earth was at peace.

3) Exploration. These were the very first explorers I knew, and every week they were going into the heart of the ultimate unknown. Who wouldn’t be inspired by the opening lines?

Space, the final frontier…these are the voyages of the starship Enterprise, its 5-year mission, to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before!

(Ok, I’m a geek)

But what has this got to be with personal development & strategies for a greater life?

Summoning Your Heroes To Work For You

How would you like your heroes to be on your side for an unfair advantage?

This is a fun, time-tested personal development technique you can use whenever you feel like you need an extra inner advantage. Of course, you’re not limited to the Star Trek cast of characters, but I’ll use them to help me explain

1) Think about a recent challenge you’ve had in your life. Watch what happened, and how you dealt with it.

2) Now, imagine what a hero of yours would do. What would Captain James T. Kirk do in this situation instead?

3) Run through the movie in your head, see and hear what happens differently.

4) Now, re-run the scene, and replay it, seeing yourself do what your hero did.

Not only can you use this technique for the past, you can also use it for the present and future. Whenever you face a challenging situation, summon up an appropriate heroine and ask, ‘what would she do?’

You can even imagine stepping into your hero’s shoes, being him and having all his empowering inner resources at your command as you go about navigating the situation!

You can even summon up the character directly, and have a chat to garner some insight. If I were looking for some command advice, I’d ask Kirk, Picard or Archer. If I needed a level-headed opinion, I’d summon up Spock, Data or T’Pol instead. How about a complex technical problem? Maybe Scotty or Trip.

Who are your heroes? And if you could summon anyone you want, which heroes would you recruit to be on your side?

P.S. This post is written in conjuction for the Star Trek 40th anniversary blog carnival.

P.P.S. Want a guide to how heroes are made? Download my free mini ebook, The Hero’s Journey!